Noting that the television movie "The Day After" (aired November 20, 1983) is probably the most important of the films generating discussion about the issue of nuclear war, this paper describes a study that examined the rhetorical vision of nuclear war depicted in the film and the ways in which that vision corresponds to the images held by individuals. The paper first discusses statements made in a survey of 79 subjects attending the 1984 summer session at a California State University campus. An open-ended request for written statements resulted in brief essays giving subjects' depictions of a nuclear war and emerging themes. It then examines the fantasy themes that emerged in an analysis of the film, pointing out the ways in which the film depicts the fantasy themes and the ways those depictions differ from the images given by the survey subjects. Next, the paper examines the deep structure of the vision or the underlying frame in which the entire drama is placed, focusing on irony as the most suitable framework. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of the similar vision shared by the film and the individual subjects. (HTH)